Apparatus for the exiting of products, particularly packets of cigarettes and similar, from a wrapping packing line for the said products

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for the exiting of products, particularly cigarettes, from a wrapping/packing line for the said products, able to check that the wrapping on all the products has been properly executed and to guarantee the succession continuity to the equipment located further along the line. The apparatus comprises means for moving the products intermittently along an exit channel in time with the inching motion of the wrapping/packing line; retainer means synchronized with the movement of the said transportation means, movable from a position in which the products are held, one next to the other, along the channel to a position in which one product at a time is allowed to enter the said channel; feeler means for detecting the presence or the absence of a product at the entry point to the channel; electro-mechanical coupling means fitted on the means for transmitting the intermittent motion to the aforementioned transportation means and to the said retainer means. The feeler means are electrically connected to the coupling means and to the feeler means for checking that the wrapping has been properly executed, in such a way as to cause the transportation means and the retainer means to be halted, as well as to cut off the said feeler checking means whenever they detect the absence of a product at the entry point to the aforementioned channel.

[ 5] Aug. 19, 1975 United States Patent Seragnoli, deceased et al.

[ APPARATUS FOR THE EXITING OF PRODUCTS, PARTICULARLY PACKETS OF CIGARETTES AND SIMILAR ,FROMA WRAPPING PACKING LINE FOR THE SAID PRODUCTS /packing line for the said products, able to check that the wrapping on all the products has been properly ex- [75J Inventors: Ariosto Seragnoli deceased, late Of ecuted and to guarantee the succession continuity to Bologna Italy by Elazar Romano the equipment located further along the line. The aplegal represemative Bologna Ital}; paratus comprises means for moving the products ini termittently along an exit channel in time with the Assigneei Sociem in Accomandita inching motion of the wrapping/packing line; retainer means synchronized with the movement of the said Semplice di Enzo Seragnoli e Ariosto Seragnoli, Italy Dec. 10, 1973 transportation means, movable from a position in which the products are held, one next to the other, [22] Filed.

along the channel to a position in which one product Appl. No.: 423,180

at a time is allowed to enter the said channel; feeler means for detecting the presence or the absence of a [30] Foreign Application Priority Data product at the entry point to the channel; electro- Mar, 5, 1973 mechanical coupling means fitted on the means for 3345/73 transmitting the intermittent motion to the aforemen- 521 US. 53/53; 53/78 (med transportato" means and to the Sam lemme means. The feeler means are electrically connected to the coupling means and to the feeler means for checking that the wrapping has been properly executed, in such a way as to cause the transportation means and the retainer means to be halted, as well as to cut off 08 07 W 3 we 3 5 5 m mh "C .r a E S m. cw e .mF UN 55 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS the said feeler checking means whenever they detect 2,922.51) H1960 2 991,879 7/1961 lrinocentimm. 3.590.556

Focke Primary lixamiiierTravis S. McGehee Atlorney, Agent, or FirmRobert E. Burns; 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Emmanuel J. Lobato; Bruce L. Adams PATENTEUAUB 91975 3, 899 86 3 SHEET 1 BF 2 Fig.1

APPARATUS FOR THE EXITING OF PRODUCTS, PARTICULARLY PACKETS OF CIGARETTES AND SIMILAR. FROM A WRAPPING PACKING LINE FOR THE SAID PRODUCTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to plants destined to wrap and pack products and, in particular, to machines or lines intended to wrap and pack batches of cigarettes in the form of traditional packets of cigarettes and has as its subject an apparatus for the exiting of wrapped and packed products from the said machines or wrapping/packing lines for the said products.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Wrapped and packed products, such as packets of cigarettes and similar articles are, as is known, made to flow from the machine or wrapping/packing line along an exiting line or apparatus wherein certain further operations are performed, that is to say, for example, a check that the wrapping has been properly executed, for example, in the case of packets of cigarettes, a check to see that the wrapping is complete in all parts since, as is known, with cigarettes in packets of the soft or what is known as the American type of packet, there is a first or inner wrap of lined foil, a second or outer wrap of printed paper, popularly referred to as the label and a sealing label or revenue stamp and when glue is used to seal the flaps on the wrap, a drying operation has to be performed, sometimes in conjunction with a pressure device.

On account of the deficiencies which occur in the succession of products due to some being rejected along the wrapping/packing line because of being faulty or incomplete, it has been seen in actual practice that with the aforementioned exiting lines or apparatus it is not possible to guarantee either the carrying out of all the above mentioned operations relating to the checking and drying of the wrap or the succession continuity of the product to the equipment following on after the exiting line or apparatus from the product wrapping/packing machine or line.

In fact, in the case of exiting apparatus which operates intermittently with each movement corresponding to a fixed position to hold a product, whilst the carrying out of the wrap checking and drying operations can be guaranteed on all products, any deficiencies have to be made good once the production process is over and the replacements are supplied in various, more or less complex and automated, ways which are well known in the specific field in question.

When, instead, the exiting apparatus operates in such a way that one product is next to the other, what has been stated above no longer applies, that is to say, the problem of deficiencies to be made good as a result of checks made by the devices for verifying that the wrap is satisfactory and subsequently thereafter no longer exists but this does not solve the problem of separating products rejected because of a faulty or incomplete wrap from those which are being sent further along the processing line for other operations to be carried out on them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to make available an apparatus for the exiting of products in packaging apparatus for the said products, able to check that the wrapping on all the products has been properly executed and to guarantee the succession continuity to the equipment located further along the line, irrespective of any deficiencies in the succession of products that may occur prior to entry in the said apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to construct an exiting apparatus which is structurally able to operate in perfect synchronization with the wrappingpacking line or machine with which it works in conjunction.

These and other objects too have all been achieved with the apparatus according to the invention for the exiting of products, particularly packets of cigarettes and similar, from a wrapping/packing line for the said products, comprising: a channel along which the products exiting from a wrapping/packing line or machine operating intermittently, are channelled one behind the other; feeler means for checking that the wrapping has been properly executed and a device for ejecting the products at the end of the channel. Essential features of the new apparatus are that it is provided with transportation means for moving the products intermittently along the channel in time with the inching motion of the wrapping/packing line or machine; retainer means synchronized with said motion and movable from a position in which the products are held, one next to the other, along the channel to a position in which one product at a time is allowed to enter the said channel; first sensing means for detecting, with each intermittent movement, the presence or the absence ofa product at the entry point to the channel and second sensing means for checking on said channel, that the wrapping has been properly executed, in such a way as to cause the transportation means and the retainer means to be halted, as well as to cut off the first sensing means whenever they have detected the absence of a product at the entry point to the aforementioned channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As can be seen from FIG. I, A represents the wrapped product exiting station of, for example, the known type, in the cigarette wrapping/packeting machine according to US. Pat. No. 3,628,309 by the same applicant.

The station A is constituted by a wheel on a horizontal shaft, provided with a plurality of radial compartments around its circumference 1, into which the packets of cigarettes P are placed in the manner described in the relevant patent. The wheel is given an intermittent movement in the direction of the arrow f so that each packet of cigarettes P is taken to the point marked 2 where it is made to exit and is then sent to the new, ultimate exiting apparatus which is shown in its entirety with the letter B. The exiting apparatus B comprises a channel running parallel to the wrapping line (not shown) leading to the exiting station A in the wrappinglpacketing machine, along a mean front plane placed further forward than that of said wrapping line.

The said channel is made up ofa base plate 3 and two lateral walls, each of which consists of a belt, 4 and 5, respectively, wound, in the form of a sealed ring, around the vertical spindle mounted rollers, 67 and 89, one of which out of each pair, for example the rollers 6 and 8, moves intermittently in the direction of the arrowf, with the drive being taken from the wrapping- /packeting machine in synchronization with the inching motion of the multiple compartment wheel 1.

At 10 and 11 there are tension rollers for the belts 4 and 5 whilst 12 indicates the fixed walls placed externally to the inner face of the said belts delimiting the channel. Above the channel, in the form of a movable cover, there is a plate 13 pressed downwards by springs 14 and this has a handle 15 so that it can be removed from its sealing position on top of the channel.

At the end of the channel there is a disc 16 rotatable in the direction of the arrowf on a plane perpendicular to that along which the channel itself extends and this is provided with lateral teeth 16a for the ejection,

as will be seen more clearly in due course, of the packets of cigarettes P from the channel. The disc 16 is rotatable with a motion which is also intermittent and is in synchronization with the movement of the belts 4 and 5 and the multiple compartment wheel 1 on the cigarette wrapping/packeting machine.

The centre part 3a of the plate 3 is heated, for example through the medium of electrical resistances, the current infeed terminals of which can be seen in FIG.

At the beginning of the channel there is a first sensing means, also identified as a feeler or detector device, see also FIGS. 2 and 3, constituted by a luminous source formed by a lamp 18 for projecting a luminous ray and by a photo-transistor l9 destined to be hit by said luminous ray, as will be seen better later on in this text.

Following on immediately after said feeler device 18, I9, that is to say between the inching position where said feeler device is located and the subsequent inching position, there is a retainer unit 20 in the form ofa shaft 21 which oscillates in time with the successive intermittent movements of the belts 4 and 5 and the multiple compartment wheel 1 of the wrapping/packeting machine in such a way as to rhythmically displace the retainer unit 20 from a position in which the packets of cigarettes P are held, one next to the other, along the channel to a position in which one packet of cigarettes P at a time is allowed to enter the channel at a point Corresponding to where the aformentioned detector device is installed.

Furthermore, the position can be seen in FIG. 2 of a second sensing means comprising transducers 22, 23 and 24 for checking that the wrapping on the packets of cigarettes has been properly executed, that is to say that there is a first or inner wrap of lined foil, a second or outer wrap of printed paper, popularly referred to as the label and a sealing label or revenue stamp, all of which are required for the formation of the soft type of packet of cigarettes known as American packs.

FIG. 2 also shows two channels 25 and 26 for selectively sending forward, via the rotatable disc wheel 16, complete and incomplete packets of cigarettes P, depending upon a position of the movable deviator arm 27, as will be seen more clearly in due Course, which is interlocked to the said transducers 22, 23 and 24. To make matters easier, the sealing labels or revenue Stamps on the packets of cigarettes P are shown in FIG. 2 rotated at compared to their true position as seen on FIG. I.

The electro-mechanical operating principle diagram for the apparatus forming the subject of the invention contained, as mentioned above, in FIG. 3 shows, in ad dition to the luminous source or lamp 18, the phototransistor 19 and the transducers 22, 23 and 24, in schematic form: coupling electromagnet means 28 for operating on means, not shown on the drawing, for transmitting movement to the belts 4 and 5 and to the oscillating shaft 21 carrying the retainer unit 20; electromagnet 29 for operating with a movable deviator arm 27, the memory or retard line 30, of known type, located between the transducers 22, 23 and 24 and the electromagnet 29; a relay 3] for operating, in a way which will be made clearer later on, the coupling means 28 and the electromagnet 29; as well as an electric contact 32 tripped by a cyclic cam 33 on the cigarette wrapping/packeting machine, to synchronize electromagnets 28 and 29 (the latter through retard line 30) with the intermittent or inching motion of the packaging apparatus A.

The electric contact 32 is movable from a closed position 32/l-2 to an open position 32/1-3 and the relay 31 is of the type with three contacts movable from a corresponding closed position 31/1 -4, 3 l/2-5 and 31/3-6, respectively, to an open position 3l/l -7, 3 1/28 and 3l/3-9, respectively, the first contact 3l/l being self-excited as will be seen more clearly from the ensuing text and normally open; the other two, normally closed.

As the packets of cigarettes P consecutively reach the position numbered 2 on the multiple compartment wheel of the cigarette wrapping/packeting machine, they are raised by lifting member 34, each from the respective compartment 1, and are thereby carried into the path of pusher 35 which drives them on to the base plate 3 on the channel of the exiting apparatus, into the position which is now defined channel position one. Here they are in the path of another pusher 36 for them to be driven from the said channel position one to the subsequent position way past the movable retainer unit 20.

All movements of these parts are rhythmic and in time with the intermittent movement of the belts 4 and 5 and of the multiple compartments 1 of the exiting wheel on the cigarette wrapping/packeting machine. In particular, the movement of the retainer unit 20 is such that it allows the packets of cigarettes P to be transferred in succession from the aforementioned channel position one to the subsequent position located past the said retainer unit 20 and all the said packets to be held one against the other, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Should a packet of cigarettes P not arrive at the given moment in front of the pusher 35 due to its having been previously rejected along the Wrapping or packeting line in the way envisaged in the patent referred to earlier on, the luminous ray from the lamp [8 hits the photo-transistor 19 which becomes a conductor and thus when the contact 32 is closed by the cyclic cam 33, the relay 31 is energized so that its self-excited contact goes from the open position 31/1-7 to the closed position 31/1-4 and the other two contacts are carried from the closed position 3l/2-5 and 31/3-6 to the open position 31/28 and 31/3-9, respectively.

With the contact in the open position 31/3-9, the coupling means 28 are de-energized and this brings about an interruption in the transmission of the movement to the belts 4 and 5 and to the retainer unit 20 which is in the position where it holds the packets one against the other, whilst with the other contact in the open position 31/2-8, the transducers 22, 23 and 24 and consequently the electromagnet 29 for operating the deviator arm 27, are cut off.

This break in the movement of the belts 4 and 5 and the retainer unit 20, as well as the cutting off of the transducers 22, 23 and 24 and the electromagnet 29 continues during the next inching movement/s since the relay 31 is kept energized through the self-excited contact being in the closed position 31/1-4 until a packet of cigarettes P arrives in the channel position one and breaks the luminuous ray from the lamp 18, thus making the photo-transistor 19 non-conducting and thereby deenergizing the relay 31 so that the selfexcited contact returns to the open position and the other two contacts to the closed position, thereby enabling the apparatus to resume its task of transporting and checking the packets of cigarettes P.

With the apparatus operating normally, the transducers 22, 23, 2 check, each time a packet of cigarettes passes in front of them, that the wrapping is complete. in the event ofjust one of the transducers detecting the absence of the particular wrapping material it is checking, it becomes a conductor and thus through the memory or retard line 30, the electromagnet 29 is operated and this sets the deviator arm 27 ready for the faulty or incomplete packet to be sent forward to the point where such packets are collected, once the said faulty or incomplete packet arrives, via the rotatable disc wheel 16, at the ejection point on the exiting channel.

ln this way it can be clearly seen that the problems which arise when using exiting apparatus of the known type are all eliminated with the apparatus forming the subject of the invention and that there is a consequential notable rise in the production rhythm of these plants.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for controlled exiting of packaged products from an intermittently operable packaging machine, comprising:

channcl means for receiving packaged products, one

at a time, from an intermittently operable packag' ing machine and for providing a flow path for such products, the channel means having mutually opposite ends providing respectively an entry portion and an exit portion of the flow path; transporting means for effecting intermittent transporting of packaged products onto and along the channel means. toward the exit portion;

retainer means disposed adjacent to and upstream of said entry portion; means for effecting intermittent moving of the retainer means between a first position thereof, in which the retainer means is enabled to close said entry portion and to retain the received packaged products, and a second position of the retainer means, in which pursuant to said transporting of products by the transporting means a packaged product, if presented for entry is enabled to enter said entry portion; first sensing means, disposed adjacent to and upstream of said retainer means for effecting intermittent sensing of whether or not a packaged product is presented for entry into said entry portion; second sensing means, disposed downstream of said retainer means and upstream of said exit portion for effecting intermittent sensing to test received products as to whether or not each of them has been properly packaged; ejector means at the exit portion of the channel means; means for effecting intermittent moving of the ejector means to eject successive received products from the channel means; deviator means for selective directing of ejected products along different paths in response to the sensing of said second sensing means; control means for controlling the selective directing of ejected products by the deviator means in response to the sensing of the second sensing means; means for synchronizing the intermittent transporting, moving, controlling and sensing, with intermittent operations of the machine for packaging products; and means for interrupting the synchronized intermittent transporting and moving and the synchronized intermittent sensing of the second sensing means, in response to sensing by the first sens ing means that a packaged product is not presented for entry, and until said first sensing means senses that a packaged product is presented for entry;

whereby the apparatus effects selective exiting of properly packaged products along one path, and of other products along a different path, whenever a packaged product is presented to enter the entry portion of the channel means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transporting means includes belt means defining lateral walls of said channel means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transporting means includes means for pushing a packaged product into the entry portion of said channel means, and means for pushing it therefrom toward said exit portion thereof.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said channel means comprises means for briefly storing packaged products received thereon, one behind and in contact with another; the transporting means including means, effectively disposed at said entry portion, for pushing a received packaged product toward said exit portion and for thereby pushing previously received packaged products toward said exit portion.

5. Packaging apparatus, comprising;

packaging means disposed for intermittent motions thereof in connection with the packaging of products and for presenting packaged products for exiting from the packaging means;

channel means for receiving presented packaged products, one at a time, from said packaging means, the channel means having mutually opposite ends providing respectively an entry portion and an exit portion of the channel means; transportation means for effecting intermittent moving of packaged products from the packaging means onto the channel means and along the latter toward the exit portion;

retainer means disposed adjacent to and ahead of said entry portion; means for intermittent moving of the retainer means between a first position thereof, in which the retainer means is enabled to close said entry portion and to retain the received packaged products, and a second position of the retainer means in which pursuant to moving of the transportation means a packaged product, if presented by the packaging means for entry, is enabled to enter said entry portion;

first sensing means, disposed between said packaging means and said retainer means for effecting intermittent sensing of whether or not a packaged product is presented for entry into said entry portion; second sensing means, disposed opposite the channel means, for effecting intermittent testing of received products as to whether or not each of them has been properly packaged by the packaging means;

ejector means at the exit portion of the channel means; means for effecting intermittent moving of the ejector means to eject successive received and tested products from the channel means; deviator means for selective directing of ejected products along different paths; control means for moving in response to the testing of the second sensing means to effect the selective directing of ejected tested products;

means for synchronizing the intermittent moving of said retainer means, transportation means, ejector means and control means, the intermittent sensing of said first sensing means and the intermittent testing of said second sensing means, with intermittent operations of said packaging means; and means for interrupting the synchronized intermittent moving of the retainer means, transportation means and ejector means and the synchronized intermittent testing of the second sensing means, when the first sensing means has sensed that a packaged product is not presented for entry, and until said first sensing means senses that a packaged product is presented for entry;

whereby the apparatus effects selective exiting of properly packaged products along one path, and of other products along a different path, whenever a packaged product is presented to enter the entry portion of the channel means.

l l= =l= l l 

1. Apparatus for controlled exiting of packaged products from an intermittently operable packaging machine, comprising: channel means for receiving packaged products, one at a time, from an intermittently operable packaging machine and for providing a flow path for such products, the channel means having mutually opposite ends providing respectively an entry portion and an exit portion of the flow path; transporting means for effecting intermittent transporting of packaged products onto and along the channel means, toward the exit portion; retainer means disposed adjacent to and upstream of said entry portion; means for effecting intermittent moving of the retainer means between a first position thereof, in which the retainer means is enabled to close said entry portion and to retain the received packaged products, and a second position of the retainer means, in which - pursuant to said transporting of products by the transporting means - a packaged product, if presented for entry is enabled to enter said entry portion; first sensing means, disposed adjacent to and upstream of said retainer means for effecting intermittent sensing of whether or not a packaged product is presented for entry into said entry portion; second sensing means, disposed downstream of said retainer means and upstream of said exit portion for effecting intermittent sensing to test received products as to whether or not each of them has been properly packaged; ejector means at the exit portion of the channel means; means for effecting intermittent moving of the ejector means to eject successive received products from the channel means; deviator means for selective directing of ejected products along different paths in response to the sensing of said second sensing means; control means for controlling the selective directing of ejected products by the deviator means in response to the sensing of the second sensing means; means for synchronizing the intermittent transporting, moving, controlling and sensing, with intermittent operations of the machine for packaGing products; and means for interrupting the synchronized intermittent transporting and moving and the synchronized intermittent sensing of the second sensing means, in response to sensing by the first sensing means that a packaged product is not presented for entry, and until said first sensing means senses that a packaged product is presented for entry; whereby the apparatus effects selective exiting of properly packaged products along one path, and of other products along a different path, whenever a packaged product is presented to enter the entry portion of the channel means.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transporting means includes belt means defining lateral walls of said channel means.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transporting means includes means for pushing a packaged product into the entry portion of said channel means, and means for pushing it therefrom toward said exit portion thereof.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said channel means comprises means for briefly storing packaged products received thereon, one behind and in contact with another; the transporting means including means, effectively disposed at said entry portion, for pushing a received packaged product toward said exit portion and for thereby pushing previously received packaged products toward said exit portion.
 5. Packaging apparatus, comprising; packaging means disposed for intermittent motions thereof in connection with the packaging of products and for presenting packaged products for exiting from the packaging means; channel means for receiving presented packaged products, one at a time, from said packaging means, the channel means having mutually opposite ends providing respectively an entry portion and an exit portion of the channel means; transportation means for effecting intermittent moving of packaged products from the packaging means onto the channel means and along the latter toward the exit portion; retainer means disposed adjacent to and ahead of said entry portion; means for intermittent moving of the retainer means between a first position thereof, in which the retainer means is enabled to close said entry portion and to retain the received packaged products, and a second position of the retainer means in which - pursuant to moving of the transportation means - a packaged product, if presented by the packaging means for entry, is enabled to enter said entry portion; first sensing means, disposed between said packaging means and said retainer means for effecting intermittent sensing of whether or not a packaged product is presented for entry into said entry portion; second sensing means, disposed opposite the channel means, for effecting intermittent testing of received products as to whether or not each of them has been properly packaged by the packaging means; ejector means at the exit portion of the channel means; means for effecting intermittent moving of the ejector means to eject successive received and tested products from the channel means; deviator means for selective directing of ejected products along different paths; control means for moving in response to the testing of the second sensing means to effect the selective directing of ejected tested products; means for synchronizing the intermittent moving of said retainer means, transportation means, ejector means and control means, the intermittent sensing of said first sensing means and the intermittent testing of said second sensing means, with intermittent operations of said packaging means; and means for interrupting the synchronized intermittent moving of the retainer means, transportation means and ejector means and the synchronized intermittent testing of the second sensing means, when the first sensing means has sensed that a packaged product is not presented for entry, and until said first sensing means senses that a packaged product is presented for entry; whereby the apparatus effects selective exiting Of properly packaged products along one path, and of other products along a different path, whenever a packaged product is presented to enter the entry portion of the channel means. 